Developing a product without caring about the price is no challenge, but starting with the price and then continue with the material and the design is harder. It requires thinking outside the box, and that’s what the development team behind FEJAN did when they created a small table for compact outdoor spaces and price-conscious customers.

“We always want to create affordable solutions, but to start with the price when you develop a product is a special challenge. It demands a lot from the whole team, and when we worked with FEJAN, we nearly gave up”, says product developer Anders Adler.

Low price, not low quality

To create a small and functional outdoor table perhaps doesn’t sound that complicated. A tabletop and four legs are all you need, or? “Yes, but no matter how low price we aim for, we must never compromise with the quality. We still had to create a stable and durable table.” Anders and the team decided to use sheet metal and calculated how much they could use without increasing the price. Then it was time to complete the design, and that’s when the tricky part began. “We thought we had a perfect solution with x-shaped legs”, he says. It’s sturdy and cost-efficient but made the packaging too big, which meant high transportation costs. “It was disappointing, so we put the project on hold to find new energy, but then the engineer in our team came up with a clever idea.”

Half legs cut the total cost

Sometimes a pause is just what you need. It gave Anders and the team a chance to break down the problem into smaller parts. And when they did, they found a solution. “We realised we could split the legs, and then customers can screw them together when they assemble the table.” It makes the packaging smaller and lowers the total cost since we can transport more on each pallet. “I’m proud that FEJAN has a price that matches the small package – it’s a table for everyone who wants to create a cosy and comfortable balcony or terrace without spending the whole budget on furniture.”